vlan tagging between l3 and l2 switches

Question

I have three layer 2 swtiches, and 2 layer 3 switches.

g40 on layer 3 switch (which is used to talk to a Layer2 dell switch). Is currently set up as an access port. I have a series of access points that I just switched out that allow for guest vlan tagging. I want that port to be able to access more then just one vlan Right now it's simply vlan1, (our main network traffic). I want to make it vlan 20 as well in theory for guests, to do that I need to make it a trunk to handle multiple vlans. (I'm sure I can do that on the cisco switch, but I don't think i can do that on the l2 dell switch).

my questions are 1. (can layer 2 switches be set up as trunks as well, and 2. do I have to set both ends of the trunk as a trunk, or simply one end?).

Given my problem If it's not possible to set it up as a trunk to allow multiple vlans, would it be best to patch those access points into a l3 switch and make the new ports that they get plugged into trunk ports? (my switches are not POE, ). My AP's are, but they have separate poe injectors via ubiquity).

Answer 1

Q: Can layer 2 switch ports be configured as VLAN trunk ports?

A: Most certainly. VLAN's are a Layer 2 construct.

Q: Do I have to set both ends of the trunk as a trunk?

A: Yes.

A few things to note:

You need to make sure that both sides of the trunk have the encapsulation configured as 802.1Q.

I can't give you specifics on how to configure the trunk on either end but you should be able to figure it out from the documentation for each respective switch.